Well… that’s all folks. We celebrated the final day of Love, Me last Saturday. Once again, thank you to everyone who has loved Love, Me and been a part of its lifespan. We remain in the space packing, shipping, cleaning, painting until Thursday, June 28th. I will then be out of town with family to return mid/late July. I wanted to ensure that anyone who needs to get ahold of me can do so via the following email: lovemeboutique@gmail.com

After almost five years of following through on a dream, I have decided to close Love, Me. This past Spring I made the decision to not resign this lease and to move locations. But…as other that search began to prove unfruitful, and an offer to sublet my current lease came up, I jumped on it. It was/is a crazy fast decision that felt really quite perfect.

Love, Me Boutique will be closed to the public at 5pm on Saturday, June 23.

I want to take a brief moment and thank each and every one of you who has made an impact on the store and my experience as a shop owner. Every chat, every smile, every “ooh” and “ahh”, every “this store is the best!”, every “I brought you a coffee/cupcake/cookie/muffin to keep you going” – it has made this part of my life memorable. I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your days, your self-treats, your special gifting strategies for loved ones. The part I will miss the most is chatting with you all – hearing about your kids antics, your plans for the holidays, or what you are working on next. I loved sharing stories with you. Thank you.

So what of Love, Me now? My plan is to take the summer to hang out with my kids. Having two young children and running a business solo is…busy. (HA! Busyness.) I am going to enjoy my kids and the summer and then re-evaluate in the fall. For now I am moving items back to their artist owners and selling off props and some stock, and looking forward to a new adventure – the World is my Tea Cup Adventure.

So come by (until the 23rd), say “see you later” (not goodbye), and stock up on some gift items for the gift closet. (You DO have a gift closet, don’t you?) Stay tuned on Facebook or Twitter for any other additional news.

On Saturday, March 10th, Yelp Halifax organized its first ever Cash Mob. The idea is similar to that of a flash mob – people meet up to complete a task and create an event. But in the cash of a Cash Mob, the idea is to meet up and shower a local business with patronage. Participants are not told the location until minutes before they set out to ‘mob’ and the participating retailer is told with just enough time to call in some friends to help and ensure they have change in their cash drawers.

To say the experience was overwhelming is too simple and not heartfelt enough. To have over 100 (joyful) people stand in line for over an hour (on the first gorgeous Saturday since I don’t know how long), has a profound effect on this shopkeeper whose business is so deeply personal.

I think I will just litter this post with links (here) and photos because I have gotten to the point that I have talked about it so much I don’t want it to become over simplified. I think I will just end with a reminder: where you choose to spend your money has an effect. (And if you shop here and read my blog, well I am preaching to the choir, I know… but I feel it can never be said too much, right?) When you shop local, your dollars count. When you get to know the retailers and they get to know you, that is a relationship and that makes a community. It mattered to me that 100 people chose to support me – before they knew they were told that it was Love, Me being mobbed AND after they were told. It mattered to me that people were happy in my shop where I try really hard to create a little piece of happy. It mattered to me that people were thanking me even though I was almost in tears attempting to thank them. It mattered to me that Yelp and others wanted to help me because they see that my wee shop has something to offer. This does not happen in a box/chain stores. Big chains don’t make an effort to remember your name. They don’t care about what you spend your money on. They don’t thank you for realsies when you shop in their store. You are not going to be able to Cash Mob everyone you would like to. You are not going to be able to shop local and independent all the time. But your choices matter. Where ever and whenever you can make them. OK?

When you were growing up, whose style did you admire? One of my style icons was my Grandmother. She was a modern Granny of vibrant colour and fabulous accessories. She could pull together an outfit like nobody’s business.

An artist we have carried for awhile but whom I have yet to feature reminds me of my Grandmother. H.Crystal creates porcelain earrings from forms made of vintage buttons. Her work is feminine and classic. They are Lauren Bacall (thought I am not entirely sure her ears were pierced). They are Olivia de Havilland. They are my gran. And her newest colour of the softest pink (shown directly below) is perfectly pretty for the spring. Hey fellas – put a pair of these in your ladies Easter Basket. You won’t regret it.

H.Crystal (her jewellery name) is a Master Fine Arts Ceramics student at NSCAD. Her thesis show exhibit takes place from April 17 – April 28th btw.

Anyone who has been in this shop knows I am a bit nutty for old keys. I have some of my collection nailed to the entry wall. So when an artist brings me work with keys featured, I am all over it. While I am an all key, all the time kind of girl, I love the subtle, romantic, suggestive nature of an old key for Valentine’s Day. It could be the key to your heart, your room, or door #3. For this weeks Friday Feature, we have 3 key embroidered artworks. (Pssst… the artist, local Hello Pineapples, actually made exact replicas of the old keys in the Love, Me entry way!) (Double Psssst…if you are local, there are more key embroidery work on the walls to choose from.)